UCP candidates vie for leadership job as voting begins Thursday

United Conservative Party members begin voting Thursday for the first official leader of the fledgling party. 
Three candidates are left in the fray, each of whom coughed up $75,000 for a stab at the title — Brian Jean, Jason Kenney and Doug Schweitzer. 
The official leadership race ran for about four months, but the unofficial contest has lasted far longer.
You could argue it began back in July 2016 when Kenney first started touting the idea of a unified provincial conserva